Tom Waits – Closing Time (1973)

Most people know Tom Waits from the era when his voice was already pretty much gone. His original raspy, yet melodic and airy vocals can only be heard on his first two albums. Closing time is an incredibly strong debut album, which is just incredibly cozy and heartwarming. Waits himself wanted to include lots of jazz elements on it, whereas his produced really wanted it to be more of a folk album. The end result is a delicious mix of the two genres with some blues on the side. I only bought the album very recently, but I have been listening to it for years. I was trying to find a decent vinyl version without spending too much money, but that proofed to be really difficult, so I settled in buying this on a new remastered cardboard-covered CD. The main thing is that I have it. Closing Time is one of those albums that you just need to have as a record collector.



As a teenager when I was listening to lots of 60's and 70's music and educating myself in legendary artists from that time, I also bumped into Tom Waits' name, but I must've first gotten my hands on the wrong albums, because for a while my impression was that I didn't much care for his music. I must've listened to his 80's Island records, which I've only grown to like very recently. I'm sure if I had heard these early albums, I would've been much more of a fan right from the start. Closing Time and its follower Heart of Saturday Night are still some of the greatest albums he ever made. Waits' voice is already a bit raspy, but it's still there.

Before this album Waits used to play at small cafes and other venues around Los Angeles and San Diego. His set included lots of Dylan covers and some of the songs from his first own two albums. I can only imagine how great it would've been to see him live back then in those venues. I hope the people who were there back then got to be proud of themselves when Waits broke through. He was spotted by record label representative on one of his gigs and ended up making seven albums for Asylum Records.

The album starts with beautifully smooth song Ol' 55, which just brings goosebumps all over right from the first notes. Even though this is the first song on the album, it reminds me of that one last great song on gigs before you have to go home. The album continues with similar style in the song I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You. This folk song has very authentic sounding guitars and there are similarities to folk greats of the time, such as Bob Dylan and Cat Stevens. Virginia Avenue is the first bluesy jazz song on the album. this is the sound that Waits perfected on his later albums. The double bass and muffled trumpet are true film noir style bliss. Old Shoes (& Picture Postcards) is a light and sunny sounding folk waltz. Midnight Lullaby is again trademark Waits. The blues sounds are a perfect soundtrack for walking home alone in the dark and rain after a great night out. I've listened to Waits many times in such occasions. The song ends with an actual children's lullaby Hush, Little Baby. Martha is a great simple piano ballad that is just insanely beautiful. The string arrangements are a bit much, but just right for the song. Lonely is a fantastically hypnotic slow paced ballad where Waits' vocals really impress. The melody starts slow but the hooks are just even more delicious when they come. One of the greatest songs by Tom Waits is Ice Cream Man. It has this amazing prohibition time style groove. The wild blues song ends with amazingly gentle outro that just has some very cinematic qualities. Grapefruit Moon is a really romantic sounding song that almost makes me weep out of sheer beauty. I can almost see Waits in front of me playing the piano in a dark corner of a smoky bar sipping whiskey between songs. The album ends with the title-track Closing Time, which has some excellent double bass action along with raspy trumpets. This instrumental bluesy ballad is a fantastic way to end the album.

Tom Waits isn't necessarily as known to younger generations as some of the other superstars of the 70's, but I think he truly would deserve to be. His music is timeless and magical. His albums are a manifestation to proper songs that carry themselves even with minimal instrumentation because the compositions are so amazing. This is album is such a bliss!

Listen to the album on Spotify.